[Dr. AUTOANATOMY]

https://youtu.be/RfeT0NJlIDE

TL;DR with a modest attempt to soften the macabre mood with a dash of dark comedy:-
Ex-IIHS, USA head unintentionally swaps seats, in order to grant a much deserved reprieve from whiplash and vertigo, with the crash test mannequin(find it naff, referring to selfless & sophisticated pseudo-human figurines as dummies; on another note but I digress), thereafter authenticating his personal Bimmer 5'er safety ratings through a real-World unsimulated head-on collision. He walked away relatively unscathed whereas the allegedly erroneous female driver who had seemingly induced the crash; violated not only elemental traffic laws but also 101 of road safety by failing to buckle in and hence was ejected from the similarly safe 2-Series that she was wheeling about on the wrong end. RIP to the victim of inertia of motion. Vehicular velocities in discussion is moderate and within the realm of the Indian commuter. In a nutshell, do yourself and loved ones a favour. In light of domestic car buying trends despite atrocious safety ratings, I realize that we at this forum constitute a minority albeit a mature and sensible one, for the most part. Hence I urge you all to prioritize buying the safest car on your shortlist. It just might save your life, when innumerable external factors on our Mad Max, lawless and chaotic roads aren't within our volition to account for or influence accordingly. Be well and drive safe.

[V.Narayan]

Thank you for sharing the video and for your important message on safety. The first 5 lines of your post are rather confusing though and required three readings (by this greying man) to figure out what you trying to say. Anyway thank you for opening your account with your first thread.

[ron178]

Originally Posted by Dr. AUTOANATOMY

through a real-World unsimulated head-on collision.

What also helped is that the IIHS designs very unique tests based on what is common in the US. In the case of Mr Lund it was a frontal car-to-car crash and a rollover. The IIHS tests for frontal offset and roof strength tests.

I appreciate what Global NCAP is trying to do (FYI: Mr Lund is one of their trustees) but we're still far from the stage in India where we have an independent research institution in India that develops consumer tests based on 'India-spec' crashes. It requires a lot of resources. Much more than just making a blanket statement like "we are mandating six airbags which will ensure safety of all occupants". It's not like frontal car-to-car crashes (that Global NCAP issues ratings for) don't happen in India but a preliminary study shows they're less frequent.

Without the IIHS vehicle safety in the US would have been nowhere near where it is today. NHTSA uses very archaic crash tests and merely 'ticks boxes' for crash avoidance systems. The IIHS has been going much beyond US NCAP since the 1990s, starting with their frontal offset test. They might be independent but NHTSA has been appreciating their work and collaborating with them on research since they started.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

The first 5 lines of your post are rather confusing

TL;DR: Too long; Don't Read. The rest of it I'm trying to figure out too.

[Dr. AUTOANATOMY]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

figure out what you trying to say. Anyway thank you for opening your account with your first thread.

Thank you for your cordial welcome, Sir. Pardon my convoluted narrative. Will attempt to be furthermore lucid from here on out.
Was attempting to lighten the mood, maybe even induce a chuckle by highlighting the irony in the IIHS head himself suffering a crash thereby offering a break to his crash test dummy. Picture the mannequin in a beach shirt and hat, sipping cocktails on the beach while his/her boss puts his money where his mouth is and serves as testament to the ratings established by his very firm.
The woman driver of the oncoming car was thrown out as she was sans seatbelt and deceased on the spot. Was hinting at how us mere fragile mortals of flesh and bone aren’t exempt from Newton’s first law of motion there. Thanks, for your time.

Originally Posted by ron178

They might be independent but NHTSA has been appreciating their work and collaborating with them on research since they started..

Thank you, for your erudition and insight. Straight from horse’s mouth, Mr. Lund himself attests to the fact he in all likelihood wouldn’t have walked away from said accident, had it happened just a decade in prior. Which for a car market of a “World Superpower” isn’t very ahead of the “Third World”, was my initial impression.

At this juncture, I would like to take the unbiased liberty to point out that the Kia Seltos received top IIHS laurels barring poor headlight performance. It starts at $24k(roughly translating to ₹19lks), specifications being 2.0L inline-4, CVT, rear discs, independent suspension at rear and a lot more kit from base trim. Higher variants get the 1.6 GDi/DCT. Hence pricing is comparable to Indian equivalent, I’d say.
Some would offer rebuttal by stating our tax structure at this stage and ergo inability of Kia to develop and sell profitable vehicles of US specific shell.

Kia stood to benefit through significantly lower capital requirements for setting up domestic shop, subsidies at every step and exploitation of low-incomed skilled/unskilled labour. This benefit amounting to millions of $$ can offset the lower margins per vehicle if they intended to indulge in ethical practices rather than peddle across vehicles which resemble the export vehicles aesthetically but almost bearing no structural similarity beyond. Skin-deep beauty, as they say.

Hence arriving at the conclusion that the Koreans know how to manufacture a rigid and structurally sound car. I believe model inception and development begins with what influences the modern car buyer. Power unto the people. United, we stand to induce a difference. If we collectively being about a deficit in sales figures of a certain brand, self-introspection will initiate, consumer study parameters altered, flaws and shortcomings will be rectified and a wholesome and TRULY safer car will be developed and sold. In us lays the change we desire to see. India is a highly lucrative automotive prospect as a developing Nation with lower expectations and demands by the demographic when purchasing vehicles(ask Suzuki who their cash-cow is). We can control the narrative. Pains my heart to see the dismal performance of safer cars such as say the Honda Jazz. Cannot fathom a flaw with that practical, reliable hatch for the heck of it barring say Honda IN’s reluctance to provide it with a 1.5L/CVT. My humble views expressed out loud.

[ron178]

Originally Posted by Dr. AUTOANATOMY

Pains my heart to see the dismal performance of safer cars such as say the Honda Jazz.

I agree the Jazz is underrated but calling a car safer just because it performed well in Global NCAP's frontal offset crash is probably not a great idea. Yes it's safer in one aspect of vehicle safety.

Critics (of all NCAPs) have always maintained t's a mistake to use one single test to determine the overall safety of the vehicle. The narrative that other safety equipment is useless if a car doesn't perform well in Global NCAP is somewhat misleading.

Don't get me wrong, the test is important and is based on robust evidence that the assessment criteria do help in those kinds of crashes. But it's not an extremely common type of crash in India, and secondly, beyond zero and one star results, it places a little too much importance on noncritical body regions like the legs.

The Jazz for example does not have side airbags that can reduce the risk of serious injury to critical body regions in types of crashes that Global NCAP doesn't test for.

I have nothing against Global NCAP, I'm confident they genuinely care about vehicle safety and they have been very vocal about promoting more relevant technologies including side airbags and safety assists like ESC. But their star ratings for India don't exactly reflect what they think is best. To quote Global NCAP:

Is this the launch of an India NCAP?
No, it is simply a research project undertaken by Global NCAP. However, we would welcome the establishment of an Indian NCAP but that will require the creation of a new organization with local support and infrastructure.
Source

It's not a very good idea to use them as a complete consumer rating though they did try to move in that direction (aligning with Latin NCAP) when they saw positive response from manufacturers and consumers.

I still think manufacturers should try to achieve five stars in these 'pilot' tests because once they achieve do it there's no going back regardless of how relevant the tests get even if it's under a permanent Bharat NCAP.